It has been a wonderful past week or more at home.  We took a self-imposed break after a busy schedule and chose to step back from activities and responsibilities.  

How do we try to relax?

I tried some new recipes.  I did some writing and played my guitar more.  I took walks when the weather was unseasonably warm and did some workouts indoors when winter hit!

Walter has been loving his garage time!  The Volkswagen Beetle is coming along just great.  Walter got the VW running this summer and now he is working on the rust and bodywork issues during the winter months.  

We went to Moose Jaw to watch our son Daniel curl in a competitive event.  As a special treat, we spent the night at the Temple Garden Spa (my birthday present!) and enjoyed a lovely soak in the pool.  

Spending time with our family is always our preferred way to relax and recharge.  Our kids are fun and love to eat together and play cards.  A family favourite is "Hand and Foot", a game similar to "Canasta" that requires 4 or 6 players.  Last Saturday we had 6 of us (2 guests were newbies but caught on quickly) and played a rousing game. Lots of laughter and table talk made the evening a riot!

Now, I am shifting gears to prepare for our week in Prince Albert.  Laundry, thinking through my wardrobe, planning a menu and picking up the necessary groceries are on my mind.  Walter has a Zoom board meeting this evening.  So he, too, is turning his attention to our ministry focus.  I caught up on emails and did what I can from a distance.  

COVID doesn't really affect us at home.  But it certainly affects how we do our ministry.  We are anxious to be able to travel, get back to Bible Colleges and mission conferences, connect with people face to face.  We'll keep praying for God to work, even through a pandemic.  We know He is not limited like we are.  We have had several applications for interns, full time staff and many inquiries for ministry!  It is good to trust in the Lord.

 TODAY IS CELEBRATION DAY!

Last Wednesday, Caylea left our Healing Hearts Ministry staff conference for a couple of hours to have a CT scan.  After three years following her Interferon treatments for melanoma, she was to have bloodwork and a scan to check for any return of the cancer.  Being quite independent throughout her treatments - we drove her to the daily sessions the first four weeks, but after that, she learned to give herself the injections and toughed it out!  So for her scans, she never needed us to go with her.  For her annual checkups, we would come along.  Today, she chose to go alone.

At 10:25 am, I received this text:

My ct scan was all good!  They won't be doing yearly ones with me anymore but said I could do one with my family doctor as a routine check if I want.

Immediately, I started planning a celebration!  

When Caylea had finished treatments three years ago, she planned an "End of Treatment" party!  She invited family and friends, asked her dad to be the M.C. and even organized a game and speeches.  Some friends helped decorate the church for the special event.  If there is one thing Caylea has learned to do, it is to celebrate the milestones in her life.

I decorated with streamers and balloons, picked up a DQ Skor dessert pizza and then we played a game of Crokinole after the supper dishes were cleared away. Daniel was able to join us and brought chips and Pina Colada mix for a celebratory treat.  How wonderful to have Walter pray a prayer of thanksgiving for God's healing touch on our daughter!  

"Caylea" sounds like the Gaelic word "Ceilidh" which means party.  And that is what we did!

 Perfect timing.

After a week in Prince Albert for our monthly Day of Prayer and Executive Meeting (October 21 & 22), we had the weekend to prepare before our Healing Hearts Staff Conference (October 26-29).  Sometimes I look at our calendar and on paper it looks like it should work out.  At other times, I see the line up of events and appointments and wonder:  when did life get so crazy!

It was good timing for one of our staff couples to stay at our place Saturday before conference.  Carl & Brenda Ens are friends from our Nipawin Bible Institute days.  They serve with us in HHM and were coming down early in order to share a dramatic presentation with our Regina church.  We had a nice chance to visit and connect with them before the demands of the next week were upon us.

Through dramatic monologue, some music, video clips and pictures, Carl and Brenda presented the story of Jim Elliot and the men who were martyred in trying to reach the Auca people with the Gospel in the 1950's.  I remember the story when I was a Bible school student and the cost of their lives impacted many to sign up for full time missionary service.  As Carl played the parts of all five men, it made their lives and the price they paid seem so real and personal.  Walter and I were both impacted deeply.

The conference began Monday late afternoon and I was feeling pretty good about the preparations and details falling into place.  I even had two NCEM interns doing the childcare for us!  But as the woman arrived to do the registration of our guests, she got a call from Sask Health that a confirmed case of COVID was reported at her son's preschool.  She had to return home and isolate with her family for 14 days!  So her boys would not be at the conference, thus no need for our childcare workers.  Sigh!

But as everyone that could come arrived, we settled down into sweet fellowship and rich teaching in the Word.  I was thankful for the others who helped lead worship, the interns who did dishes and others who served in various ways throughout the week.  The speaker, Paul Ens, preached on "The Story of Grace" and it proved to be a timely theme.  I was impressed by the teaching on legalism vs. grace, how Pharisees were notorious for adding laws onto laws, more layers of rules to the basic, simple regulations God gave the Hebrew people.  We may not have the complicated system the Pharisees developed, but I know I have added expectations, personal do's and don't's to my own life.  I have expectations of others that become legalistic and I forget about grace, about freedom, about living by principles not by rules.  So I am still processing how that impacts my spiritual journey in a practical way.

On the final evening of our gathering, the group had a special time of prayer for Walter and me, as we look to God's leading in the year ahead.  Walter has been pursuing medical answers for his health issues in the past year, and one issue became apparent in the tests and checkups.  He has been diagnosed with a slow-moving prostate cancer, being "actively monitored" through a urologist's care.  We're not overly concerned, yet the word "cancer" does bring its own drama!  

Through it all, Walter and I are trusting the Lord.  His timing.  His purpose.  His goodness.  His perfect ways.  We do feel His grace surrounding us as we face another challenge.

I'll try to keep my blog followers updated as we know more...